Want to save more energy? The best IOT solutions of 2017!

Posted
on 23/06/2017

Surely, we needn’t tell you that energy is becoming increasingly expensive. Whether you are a company or a private individual, you are undoubtedly doing everything you can to reduce your energy bill. You’re shifting your energy usage to off-peak hours as much as possible, your roof is filled with solar panels, and your old taps have long been replaced with water-saving alternatives. But did you also know that you could be saving even more energy thanks to today’s innovative IoT technology? 2017 saw its fair share of IoT-enabled smart energy trends bound to stick around for years to come. You don’t want to miss out on these four!

4. The smart ventilation system

You enter the room and the lights turn on automatically. No surprises there, right? Many homes and company buildings these days have been equipped with smart sensors that are connected to the lighting system for years now. Ventilation systems that respond to the presence of people in the room, however? That’s a trend that has only just started to pick up speed this year. Nevertheless, smart ventilation systems work just like connected lighting solutions: motion sensors are connected to a gateway which is connected to the ventilation system over Wi-Fi. Smart ventilation systems, in other words, only consume energy when they really need to.

3. The smart irrigation system

Forget automatic irrigation. In 2017, more and more gardens are being watered by smart irrigation systems, making plants happier and water bills cheaper. Unlike automatic irrigation systems, smart irrigation systems don’t have to be programmed. They simply know when to kick in! In addition to smart sensors which alert the system when the soil becomes too dry, smart irrigation systems are also wirelessly connected to a weather station. If, for example, the soil is too dry but rain has been forecast the next day, the smart irrigation system knows to wait it out.

2. Smart water leak detectors

Saving energy is also a matter of planning ahead. What if, for example, one of the water pipes at home bursts while you’re at work or on holiday? Considering that a leaky tap wastes about 6 liters of water a day, you can imagine what a broken pipe does to your water bill ... Enter the smart water sensor, which immediately sends you a text message in case a pipe bursts. There are IoT solutions which pick up on smaller leaks too, by the way, provided you’re willing to tweak your smart meter ...

1. Saving energy using your smart meter

By 2019, every home in Flanders will have a mandatory smart meter instead of an electromechanical meter. But this so-called smart meter isn’t really all that smart. Henk Heylen, Director of Sales Consulting at fifthplay, explains:

“These smart meters are nothing more than what you’d call connected meters. They’re a great asset to energy suppliers, but they don’t give consumers any insight into their historical energy usage whatsoever, let alone how much individual appliances consume.”

Consequently, a new energy trend is emerging: more and more consumers are connecting their smart meters and home appliances to IoT solutions like smart plugs and the fifthplay cube. That way, they can check their meter reading at all times with an app, while also keeping a close eye on how much their appliances individually consume. Because the fifthplay app also keeps track of historical energy usage, water leaks and other types of energy waste quickly come to light.

Does your company want to take the IoT market by storm?Become a fifthplay partner! We will develop all your apps and smart devices, making sure everything is perfectly in tune with your brand.